A survey of names used in the Bisson family

Girls' names

It is remarkable that the 613 female Bissons whose baptisms are recorded up to 1842 share
only 51 first names, and that reduces to 35 if spelling derivatives are
excluded. Of the 51 names, 23 were used only once in the 250 years covered by parish registers
before the start of central records of births, marriages and deaths. Only 79 of the Bisson girls were given second
baptismal names - a fashion which started as late as 1784.

The Bisson girls' first names, and the number of times they were used are as follows

Amelie (2)

Ann (1)

Anne (51)

Betsy (9)

Caroline (2)

Caterine (2)

Catherine (14)

Charlotte (2)

Colette (1)

Collette (3)

Deborah (1)

Delina (1)

Douce (2)

Eliza (1)

Elizabeth (114) (the spelling Elisabeth was a later introduction)

Emelie (1)

Emilie (2)

Emma (1)

Este (1)

Esther (30)

Florence (2)

Francoise (1)

Harriet (1)

Helen (1)

Henriette (1)

Jane (19)

Jeanne (70)

Jeanneton (1)

Judith (9)

Julie (1)

Katherine (1)

Louisa (3)

Louise (1)

Madelaine (1)

Magdelaine (3)

Margeritte (2)

Marguerite (17) remarkably no Margarets

Marie (91) remarkably only three of these were Marie Ann(e)s, a combination which is very common in other Jersey families

Mary (23) of whom 14 were Mary Ann(e)s

Nancy (7)

Perronelle (1)

Priscilla (1)

Prisille (1)

Rachel (42)

Sara (20) no Sarahs. Today's common spelling must have come in after 1842

Sarra (4)

Sophia (1)

Sophie (3)

Suky (1)

Susanne (32) no Susans

Of the 614, 500 shared only nine first names (including spelling variations)

Boys' names

Male Bissons were slightly more numerous during this period - there were
673 of them.

Aaron (2)

Abraham (10)

Alexander (1)

Alfred (2)

Amice (5)

Amys (1)

Benjamin (22)

Biamin (1) perhaps the Rector couldn't write very well

Charles (43)

Clement (5)

Couteur (1)

Daniel (21)

Dumaresq (1)

Edouard (36) strangely no Edwards

Elias (1)

Elie (28)

Fitz-James (1) Yes, his father was James

Francis (7)

Francois (31)

Frederick (5)

George (28)

Gilles (1)

Guilleaume (1)

Henry (6)

Jacques (6)

James (8)

Jaque (1)

Jean (140)

Jemmy (1)

John (7) a spelling variant which dates back only to the 1820s

Joseph (1)

Josue (28)

Leonard (1)

Matthieu (8)

Michel (4) Michael was a much later introduction

Moise (1)

Nicholas (2)

Nicolas (16)

Nicollas (8)

Perrin (1)

Philippe (92)

Pierre (19) Peter came in much later

Richard (9)

Simeon (1)

Thomas (42)

Tom (1)

William (10)

A total of 48 names, 17 used just the once and seven spelling
variations. Only 32 of the male Bissons were given a second baptismal
name between 1595 and 1842. Of the total, 490 shared the ten most
popular names.

Among the 150 Le Gros Bissons included in the
above lists, the men shared only 18 first names, as did the women, and
only one of the 150 had a second baptismal name. One line of Le Gros Bissons
were exclusively John, Jean and Matthieu from the mid-19th
century back to 1530. Three before this date were Thomas,
Damian and Robin.

There was more variety in the use of given names before the parochial
registers were introduced. What happened to Genette, Marthe, Noelle and
Perrotine? There has certainly been much greater variety in the last 160
years of central registration of births and the French names which were
dominant have all but died out and been replaced either by their English
equivalents or by the multitude of names of recent introduction.